Wednesday, December 31, 2014

It seemed to me, more than usual, that on reading some psychic and astrological predictions for 2015 those doing the predicting are not being very brave this year. Or perhaps the reason is that the only appropriate overall prediction is really "more of the same"...but that's boring, so writers pad it out with more, and different, words!

We can be 99.9% certain that the world will continue to heat up a wee bit more during the coming year. Winter will prove a little more extreme temperature-wise . Climate upset is very gradual, at times hardly noticeable unless one can clearly look back some 40 years or so.

More of the same.

Troubles in the Middle East will continue...they always have, and always will. Flashpoint and cast members may change, but sadly "the song remains the same".

More of the same.

US politicians will remain mostly in gridlock.

More of the same.

Some economies will teeter , some water and food shortages will arise.

More of the same.

In the USA many and varied distractions will fill online websites, TV talk shows, blogs and newspapers, often pushing what's truly important to a stray forgotten paragraph, buried.

More of the same.

Some "celeb" or other will utter non-PC commentary, or undue criticism of some other "celeb", or have a wardrobe malfunction, or write a book or make a film in inordinately bad taste, and thereby cause a momentary furor in social media, while achieving lots of free publicity for themselves.

More of the same.

Facebook and other social media sites will continue to leech readers from blogs until their lifeblood all but dries up - but some bloody-minded bloggers will continue scribbling - and more strength to 'em!

More of the same.

What I hope will definitely NOT be more of the same:

Passenger aircraft missing without trace, or being shot down, or crashing for any reason - all lives lost, as in 2014's three tragedies: MH370, MH17 & Air Asia 8501.

A sorely needed change I hope might happen:

Drone use and torture will begin to be seriously discredited, through public opposition to both, as well as to police violence against civilians.

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Father Time, aka Chronos, aka Saturn, depicted left by a 16th century printer:

Printer's device of Simon de Colines (d. 1546). Latin motto TEMPUS (Time) HANC ACIEM SOLA RETUNDIT VIRTUS is translated "virtue alone withstands this blade". Note the forelock on Time--so that one may seize Time by the forelock.
(See HERE)

Father Time pursues us all, virtuous or villainous. We stagger towards the start of another calendar year, some of us still mildly punch-drunk from 2014's vagaries, some contemplating, Saturnine fashion, on the seniority of our years.

2014 began well enough for me, but around its halfway mark, due to a fungal infection of my scalp I was forced to give up my 8-weekly visit to the hairdresser for a colour job. So now, as nature - and Father Time - intended, I have snow on the roof. "Ah yes", I think, as I look in the mirror now - "I remember you!"

2014 had a parting gift for me in its 4th quarter, a gift for the other end of my physical body: a dicky left foot. That alone wouldn't have fazed me too much, been there, done that, but a cocktail of anti-biotics and their side-effects catapulted me into a downward spiral for a couple of weeks, to a place I've never been before, and to which I never wish to return.

Happily, husband has weathered 2014 well, all things considered, and really my own problems have been pretty minor as compared to some suffered by others. Planetary placements in my natal chart mean that astrologers would probably put down my own minor upsets to flak from 2014's Cardinal Grand Cross, and associated aspects. (I have natal Saturn at 13 Aries, and natal ascendant degree in mid-Cancer).

I don't believe in aging. I believe in forever altering one's aspect to the sun.
― Virginia Woolf

Time, age and astrology are, naturally, closely linked. We live our lives against the "wallpaper" of planetary cycles: Jupiter's of 12 years, Saturn's of 29, and that of Uranus, nearest of all to current average life expectancy, 84 years. I'm well along that cycle of cycles, proof is below. Photos span the years from 1939 to Christmas Eve, 2014, covering Transits of Uranus in Taurus to Uranus in Aries - dawn to Twilight!

The great thing about getting older is that you don't lose all the other ages you've been. ~Madeleine L'Engle

Monday, December 29, 2014

Day after Christmas Day, while typing, I was listening "on demand" to a BBC 2 radio show: George Michael in concert. He sang a song I'd not heard before, written in 2007 by Rufus Wainwright: Going to a Town. George Michael had recorded a cover version of the song for his latest album earlier this year. The lyrics immediately grabbed my attention. The song is a lament about the USA, country of Wainwright's birth.

Lyrics:I'm going to a town that has already been burnt down
I'm going to a place that has already been disgraced
I'm gonna see some folks who have already been let down
I'm so tired of America

I'm gonna make it up for all of The Sunday Times
I'm gonna make it up for all of the nursery rhymes
They never really seem to want to tell the truth
I'm so tired of you, America

Making my own way home, ain't gonna be alone
I've got a life to lead, America
I've got a life to lead

Tell me, do you really think you go to hell for having loved?
Tell me, enough of thinking everything that you've done is good
I really need to know, after soaking the body of Jesus Christ in blood
I'm so tired of America

I really need to know
I may just never see you again, or might as well
You took advantage of a world that loved you well
I'm going to a town that has already been burnt down
I'm so tired of you, America

Making my own way home, ain't gonna be alone
I've got a life to lead, America
I've got a life to lead
I got a soul to feed
I got a dream to heed
And that's all I need

Making my own way home, ain't gonna be alone
I'm going to a town
That has already been burnt down.

At the time the song was penned G.W. Bush was still president, wars raged in Iraq and Afghanistan, housing bubble, done with bubbling under, was ready to burst - loudly. "I'm so tired of America....." Wainwright wrote, and sang.

The song tells that the singer was going to Berlin, maybe for good - to a city "already burnt down" (in World War 2, its people let down and disgraced by their then leader).

In interview Wainwright had said, “We all love America.....but we have to admit that there’s just been too many mistakes made in the recent past over too many issues, and we’ve just got to deal with that fact.”

Seven years on, the song comes up as fresh as if it were written yesterday, in spite of the fact that Bush Jnr has been out of the White House for years.

I have a mild criticism, and it's of the spirit of this song. The singer is about to leave his native land because he dislikes what it has become - yet it is a country where a section of its population had been appreciative and generous enough to make a star of the singer-songwriter. This scenario doesn't seem particularly admirable. Staying, rather than leaving, leading or joining a struggle to help make the country more comparable to what it had once been (if indeed it had) would have presented useful and positive thoughts to fans.

Sunday, December 28, 2014

With Sun now in zodiac sign Capricorn, what's to say about the types of personalities associated with this sign? On the whole it gets a bad rap, probably second only to Scorpio for negative, or at least non-enthusiastic, reporting.

A handful of well-known Sun in Capricorn people who seem to fly against the Capricorn keyword stereotype, (from what we know of them):
David Bowie, Jim Carrey, Rod Stewart, Janis Joplin, LL CoolJ...

I draw a blank regarding close relationships with Sun Capricorn people, but I've noticed from a few casual acquaintances whose birthdays put them amongst the Capricorn clan, that many have a wickedly dry sense of humour, its roots possibly in planets lying in neighbouring signs.

In any case, I suspect that Sun Capricorn does not embody much of the accepted stereotype unless every personal planet lines up in that sign. Sun Capricorn people are liable to have two or more personal planets in neighbouring signs Sagittarius and Aquarius, both have potential to dilute text-book Capricorn characteristics, and bring in a hint of happy-go-lucky Sagittarius flavour, or some whacky Aquarianisms. Conversely, it's quite easy to pick up Capricorn flavour in natives of those two neighbouring signs, where close personal planets are often found doing a turn in Capricorn.

I'd expect to see more typical Capricorn traits in a person with Saturn rising in Capricorn, the ruler rising in its own sign. That's when Capricorn is going to be more easily seen in public, even if that person's natal Sun and Moon are nowhere near the sign of the seagoat. It's unwise to place too much confidence in Sun signs, they are an easy label, a convenient rule of thumb, a fun grouping, but they are liable to be terribly misleading.

(Sir) Anthony Hopkins has Sun and ascendant in Capricorn - perhaps slightly more stereotypical than those people mentioned above. He comes over as fairly serious and disciplined, a little old fashioned. But even here, his Moon in Sagittarius and Jupiter in Aquarius tend to "mix it up and make it nice", added to which, Capricorn's ruler Saturn lay in Pisces as he was born, lightening its heavy influence quite a lot.

Graham Chapman (of Monty Python - shirtless in the photo), with Sun and ascendant in Capricorn, Moon in Taurus, Saturn in Taurus sounds like someone Earthy and sensible - heading closer to the stereotype - but Venus and Mars lay in Sagittarius, which kind of knocks it all smartly on the head.

(Sir)Sean Connery (aka the original James Bond) is the nearest I can find to matching a typical Capricorn stereotype, yet his Sun and Moon are in Virgo, an Earth sign which doesn't tend to smother Capricorn completely. He has Capricorn rising with Saturn in first house very close to the ascending degree. Saturn is his dominant planet and Capricorn shares sign dominance with Virgo. The ususal culprits for messing up Capricorn's serious reputation, Sagittarius and Aquarius, don't get a look in in Connery's chart, by the way.

Hopkins and Connery both happen to have been knighted by Queen Elizabeth II - that in itself is rather Capricornian! However, Hopkins is unimpressed and says he only accepted it to make his (then) wife happy! Connery describes it as one of the proudest days of his life. He had been denied the honour for several years due to his passionate Scottish nationalism, and support for Scottish Independence. I'm with Hopkins on this!

Saturday, December 27, 2014

We watched Divergent on HBO recently. It's yet another of the ever-growing Young Adults in Dystopia genre, and the first of yet another trilogy, this adapted from the novels of Veronica Roth. The movie didn't meet with much critical acclaim.

Ingredients are as per popular YA in Dystopia recipe: Young female (or male) heroic figure, set in a city or country in post-war, post-environmental catastrophe, or amid some pre- or post-apocalyptic state of affairs. Visions of the future in YA novels are always dark and post-something nasty. Whether such scenarios are meant as an allegory for general adolescent and teenage angst, or as a precient peep into the future by the authors of these novels and the movie-makers, is up to audiences to decide, if they even think that deeply about what they've watched or read.

Divergent is pretty run-of-the-mill YA dystopian fare. Husband wasn't keen on it, while I quite liked the movie. An astrologically-tinted lens applied to some parts of the storyline is an interesting experiment.

The story is set in a walled-in, devastated, Chicago. (Nothing is mentioned about other parts of the USA, or indeed other parts of the world - perhaps the novel or sequel enlightens readers on this front). The city's population is segregated into "factions", determined by individual temperament. People within each faction provide the service for which they are best fitted, personality-wise. The factions are: Abnegation (public servants - they pretty much run things for the community); Erudite (highly intelligent egg-heads who would like to overthrow Abnegation's seeming seniority); Amity (the farmers and peace lovers); Candor (lawyers, judges); and Dauntless (the brave and fearless "protectors").

At age 16, after going through some techno-assisted aptitude testing, each person must decide to which faction they choose to belong - for life. To be outside of these distinct factions is a definite no-no. Factionless individuals, those who decline to belong to a single faction, or are thrown out of the faction they chose at age 16, are relegated to remain a part of a poor, hungry, and homeless group.

Anyone with a "feel" for astrology might understand why I soon began, from time to time, viewing the movie through a wider, astrologically-slanted lens. The humors: sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic, melancholic ; the elements: Earth, Fire, Air, Water; the modes: Cardinal, Fixed, Mutable; and, naturally: "What's your sign?" Human nature, identity, conformity..... labels. Labels can be useful, but are never a good thing when taken to extremes, ignoring diversity.

This, first film of the trilogy, sets the scene. We watch development of the young heroine, Beatrice, who comes from an Abnegation family. At age 16, somewhat conflicted, she chooses to join the Dauntless faction and changes her name to Triss. We're taken through her initiation and training, her learning to confront and deal with her inner fears. We meet her Dauntless companions, some of whom are clearly sociopaths! We also meet the Erudite faction's leader, Jeanine - another version of Thatcher/Clinton/Wicked Witch of the West, this time played by Kate Winslet.

Ms Winslet is one of a couple of slightly older and more widely known star names in the cast, no doubt included to entice adult bums onto cinema seats. Ashley Judd is the other, playing Beatrice's mother. The rest of the cast were new to me, including the lead actress Shailene Woodley, and her love interest (well there always has to be one) Theo James, who I would have recognised had I been a fan of Downton Abbey. Full cast list HERE. The two young leads played their parts very well, I thought.

Beatrice/Triss has no sociopathic tendencies, she doesn't fit in completely with the Dauntless faction - this is something gradually realised by her, as well as by shrewder members of the Dauntless leadership. I'll reveal no more detail, except to say that the film's title describes its heroine, and others who have become factionless, the Divergents, and are feared by leaderships because of their ability to think and act differently from those whose diversity of thought and skill have become stunted by continued segregation and manipulation.

Whether young adult audiences will watch this film and realise that, as well as a tale of a young woman's rite of passage, padded by a mild love story, there's a not very veiled criticism going on, an allegorical representation of some of today's problems. A potentially menacing whisper of what it would be like to live under a totally controlling leadership is there for any paying attention.

Jeanine (Thatcher/Clinton/Wicked Witch of West) says more than once during the movie that the original plan to segregate the city's population came about because of human nature. Human nature had been responsible for the horrendous war that left the city (and presumably the world) in such a calamitous state . I have to, reluctantly, agree with Jeanine on this point. I've often written on this blog that human nature (which astrologers contend is brought about by the place planet Earth has in our galaxy, and perhaps in the universe as a whole) is at the heart of our troubles.

No doubt, initially, segregation was tried with good intention, but arrangements and rules had been allowed to become too extreme, overly authoritarian - human nature at work again. (They say, "You can't fight city hall" - even less human nature!) The city had become nothing less than a fascist regime, using social engineering, mind manipulation via chemicals, and no doubt other nasties, possibly to be revealed in sequels. Chemically-induced mind manipulation was at its worst in Divergent's version of dystopia when used on members of the Dauntless faction (supposedly the brave and fearless "protectors") to force them to follow orders - orders which would result in genocide - or at least in "factionicide".

Divergent uses elements which have appeared in just about any other Young Adults in Dystopia movie or book one could name, whether of the blockbuster or lesser-known variety. While it's interesting to discover how many different ways there can be of cobbling these elements together, it'll surely soon be time to create some new ideas and fresh material!

Friday, December 26, 2014

On this day, 26 December, Henry Miller was born, in 1891 in Yorkville, Manhattan. As well as being a writer, Miller was a painter (well, kind of). It's said he painted in excess of 3000 watercolours during his life. He loved to paint, though wasn't exceptionally talented in that direction. He was enthusiastic about his art, loved colour, experimental style and composition.

As well as writing and painting Miller had a serious interest in astrology. Some snips from Arthur Hoyle at goodreads.com --

Henry Miller was a devotee of astrology. He employed astrological imagery in his writing for expressive purposes, and he relied on astrology when faced with important decisions in his personal life. Miller viewed astrology metaphorically, as a system of correspondences between the inner world of the psyche and the soul and the outer world of the planets and the stars between the microcosm and the macrocosm. And because Miller wished to lead an astrological life marrying his own personal rhythms to the larger rhythms of the universe, he looked to astrology for guidance through personal difficulties.

Miller’s interest in astrology as a literary device is evidenced by the titles of two of his most famous books, Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. These titles reference both geographical zones on the planet Earth as well as signs of the zodiac. As he worked on Capricorn in Paris, he wrote to his lover Anaïs Nin explaining the astrological significance behind these books. “For me Cancer means the crab the creature which could move in any direction. It is the sign in the zodiac for the poet the halfway station in the round of realization. Opposite Cancer in the Zodiac is Capricorn, the house in which I am born, which is religious and represents renaissance in death. Cancer also means for me the disease of civilization, the extreme point of realization along the wrong path⎯hence the necessity to change one’s course and begin all over again. Cancer then is the apogee of death in life, as Capricorn is of life in death.”

.........while Miller was living in Big Sur, California and working on his novel trilogy The Rosy Crucifixion (another title rich in occult symbolism), he received a letter from the astrologer Sydney Omarr, who had noted the frequency of astrological imagery in Miller’s books and proposed writing a study of it.... Omarr asked Miller for cooperation in writing his study, to be called "Henry Miller, His World of Urania". In his forward to the book Miller wrote, “What interests me primarily in astrology is its holistic aspect. The man who is whole sees whole, and for him the universe is an ever expanding universe......" Elsewhere in the forward Miller warned against using astrology as a predictive tool: “It is not to discover what is going to ‘happen’ to us, it is not to forestall the blows of fate, that we should look to our horoscopes. A chart, when properly read, should enable one to understand the over-all pattern of one’s life.” .......But despite this disclaimer, Miller did turn to astrology to help him cope with stressful periods in his life....

For many years he contemplated writing a purely astrological work to be called Draco and the Ecliptic. Omarr explains the significance of Draco: “For the esoteric astrologer a tremendous idea lay behind the myth of the Dragon, which was called the thirteenth House of the Zodiac. For the Chaldeans the Dragon was the first created being; it was through the Dragon in the sky that man gained admittance to the ‘heaven beyond heaven’.

"The world is not to be put in order. The world is order. It is for us to put ourselves in unison with this order."
― Henry Miller

Henry Miller born at 12.30 PM in Yorkville, Manhattan, NY on 26 December 1891.

Mr Miller had some nice harmonious aspects in his natal chart: Venus/Saturn in trine from late Capricorn and Virgo; Sun & Mercury in Capricorn sextile Moon, Mars & Uranus in Scorpio; Jupiter in Pisces trine Moon/Mars/Uranus. Earth and Water, earthy, emotional, sexy; a little eccentric and at times "over the top" - which, I think, more or less describes his writings. I admit that I haven't read any of his work though.

This Yod (Finger of Fate) consists of the sextile between his Sun/Mercury and Moon, etc. being hooked up to Neptune/Pluto by quincunx (150 degree aspect). I'd translate that as a further configuration helpful to his writing skills - though I dare say astrologers might not agree, some regard Yod formations as being less helpful.

Can Miller's interest in astrology be identified in his natal chart? Triple Scorpio emphasis trining Jupiter seems a likely source.

"We are dancing in the hollow of nothingness. We are one flesh, but separated like stars."
― Henry Miller

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

My own take on Christmas is this: it doesn't matter a jot on what day, month, year, time or place on the globe a teacher we have been taught to call Jesus Christ was born, as long as his message remains in sight. I like to think that, across the centuries, a lot of "special" events and phenomena were recorded diligently by scribes in the East. Tales of a teacher who healed the sick, and spoke of peace; tales of comets, and shooting stars and huge bright celestial bodies much grander than the norm, would all be carefully recorded and handed on to the next generation of scribes and storytellers. Then, at some point someone or some group gathered them together, picked the best parts, adding a smidgeon of imagination, and a sprinkling of extra cast members, et voila ! The Christmas Story - good enough to last for 2000 years, rooted in truth, packaged skillfully to appeal to countless generations.

Here's how the ages old Christmas Story sounds when told 21st century-style :

And on...and on...into the future the Christmas Story, or a variation of it, will live and evolve:

Warm Christmas wishes for a peaceful and happy holiday season to all commenters, readers, and occasional passers-by.

Monday, December 22, 2014

We watched this season's run of The Voice on NBC without much enthusiasm; it reached its finale last week. My longtime love of musical talent shows is waning (pun unintended) these days. More and more there's an undercurrent of producer manipulation - if that was always part of the genre, it must have been more skillfully hidden in the past, or perhaps we were more naive.

The one good thing about this season's Voice : the right guy won! Craig Wayne Boyd, age 35, country music artist, originally from Mesquite, Texas, based in Nashville for many years, but had not been able to make the breakthrough - until now.

From commentary online, before the finale and announcement of the winner, it seemed inevitable that one of the other, younger more pop or "indie", singers would beat Craig Wayne Boyd who, though being way ahead of them on stage presence and experience, wasn't to the taste of much of the young demographic at which the show is aimed. One should never discount the loyalty of country music fans though - they are the most dedicated, and mixed age group, of any music fans. I used to be one of them, back in the UK even. I still swing back and forth between disliking the overtly political leanings of some country music artists, but then thinking, what the heck it's about the music not the politics. If they'd only leave it at that, and not push away would-be fans who happen to be of different political persuasion. In that way country music could move out of the virtual strait-jacket of south USA and other conservative rural areas to a far wider and varied community.

I hope that Craig Wayne Boyd's stars align for him now - he seems to me to have more in common with some of the traditional country music artists I've loved for years, than with a more recent crop of pop-cum-country singers. I shall support where I can, buy his first album anyway, and hope to watch his rise to fame be similar to that of Carrie Underwood's. She won American Idol years ago, and is now one of country music's "royalty".

Here he is, from earlier this season, singing Johnny Cash's I Walk the Line -

And in the finale show last Tuesday singing Sweet Home Alabama, with Lynyrd Skynyrd -

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Attempting to be seasonal, Christmassy and astrologistic at the same time is tricky, and can be repetitive. During previous "Holiday" seasons I've attempted to link zodiac signs to various styles of a couple of seasonal items - Christmas cards and Christmas tree decor. What's left for that kind of treatment ? Not much. Another seasonal regular, in Britain, is the pantomime. My archived post on that tradition is HERE. General definition of pantomime: theatrical entertainment mainly, but not exclusively, for children, with music, topical jokes, satire and slapstick. Gender of actor/character is often reversed (i.e. male plays female, female plays male). Themes are from fairy tales or nursery stories. Panto productions are usually produced around Christmas-time, in both amateur and professional mode, the latter starring at least one "celeb" performer.
I haven't tried to link popular pantomime characters to zodiac types.....yet.

I realise that any passing reader in the USA will be unfamiliar with pantomime, but they'll surely recall the fairy tales upon which irreverent pantomimes are based. Let's see - for instance, who's the Cinderella of the zodiac? Or who is the zodiac's Sleeping Beauty, Jack of the Beanstalk tale, Puss in Boots, Dick Whittington, Aladdin, or Beauty, and naturally, the Beast?

Hmmmm.....

Aries - enthusiastic, impetuous, energetic, aggressive. How about Jack of Jack & the Beanstalk ? Story is HERE

Illustration by Walter Crane 1875

Taurus - reliable, steadfast, artistic, earthy... probably not one of the lead characters in fairy tales or pantomimes, more a supporting part. In pantomime, a father, as in Baron Hardup (Cinderella's dad), or maybe Buttons, usually an audience favourite, the Baron's servant and loyal, loving friend of Cinderella.

Illust: Margaret Tarrant

Gemini - the communicator, social butterfly, trickster. There are lots of tricksters in fairy tales and pantomimes. I like Puss in Boots for Gemini! Story is here

Cancer - caring, sensitive, sentimental, clingy, often taken for granted.....doesn't that say Cinderella?

Leo - ambitious, likes to lead, loyal, vain, pretentious... lots of these types in fairy tales and panto too, surprisingly not usually the lead character though. Snow White's vain and wicked stepmother with her magic mirror qualifies for the darker side of Leo. Peter Pan, the eternal boy, has Leo connection too, Leo holds sway over 5th house of pleasure and children.

Sculpture by George Frampton in Kensington Gardens London.

Virgo - conscientious, meticulous, precise, fussy...Cinderella's Prince Charming springs to mind; his meticulous search for a foot to fit the glass slipper is nothing if not Virgoan!

Libra - peaceful, indecisive, gracious, diplomatic Scorpio - passionate, loyal, suspicious, obsessive
Tongue firmly in cheek... my first thought for Libra and Scorpio was Beauty and the Beast! I'd never been clear about the full story of B and the B - it's here:

Sagittarius - independent, adventurous, a traveller, kindly, optimistic (sometimes overly so).
Sagittarius has the makings of the hero or heroine of of any fairy tale or pantomime. Aladdin (re the flying carpet) or Dick Whittington?

Capricorn - responsible, ambitious, serious. As with Taurus, I don't see Capricorn as taking the lead in a fairy tale or pantomime, the sign's characteristics better fit supporting roles such as merchant (as in father of Belle in Beauty & the Beast), or a landowner, aristocrat, employer etc.

Photograph from 2014 French film of ‘Beauty and the Beast’ (La belle et la bête).
Belle played by Léa Seydoux, her father, the merchant, by André Dussollier

Aquarius - inventive, stubborn, political, logical. Aquarius can share Dick Whittington with Sagittarius. Dick did become Lord Mayor of London, and that's about as political as fairy tales ever get!

.

About Me

Also answers to Ann or Annie or even Twilight Annie (sounds like a character from Dickens - or Damon Runyan!)
British-born, living in the USA since 2004, US citizen since 2008.
Self-taught non-professional dabbler in astrology, which took up most of the blog-space here from Aug. 2006 to Aug. 2012. The blog now covers more general topics, along with occasional astrology- related posts. Archives can be accessed easily via links in the sidebar.